Gaming - News
Oculus Founder Creates VR Headset That Kills The User If They Die In The Game
By ETHAN ZACK
Oculus VR founder, Palmer Luckey announced that he has successfully created a prototype for a VR headset that can kill the user if they die within a game. The device resembles a VR headset such as the Meta Quest 2 with three cylinders protruding above where the user's forehead would be — these are explosive charges that activate when they detect a "Game Over" screen in-game.
The inspiration for the project came from "Sword Art Online," an anime series about people trapped in a VRMMO game that kills them if they die in the game, and Luckey's announcement came on the same day that the events of "SAO" begin in-universe: November 6, 2022. Luckey explained that the show was a huge boon for the sales of the Oculus Rift in Japan.
Although Luckey’s headset does mirror those featured in “SOA,” his is far from perfect, as he explained in a blog post, "There are a huge variety of failures that could occur and kill the user at the wrong time.” He also tweeted, “Something like this would need to be driven by a high intelligence agent that can reject false positives. Too spooky otherwise!"
